Twelve years ago Saturday, Bud Selig stood at a microphone at a hotel in a Chicago suburb and proclaimed, "On Feb. 16, if there is no agreement, camps won't be opened."
Selig, at the time, was the owner of the Milwaukee Brewers and chairman of the owners' labor committee. The labor agreement with the players had expired on the last day of 1989, and because the two sides had not worked out a new agreement, the owners were planning to lock the players out of spring training for the third time in 17 years.
Selig appeared at that news conference with commissioner Fay Vincent, deputy commissioner Steve Greenberg and Charles O'Connor, the owners' chief negotiator. As teams prepare to begin spring training this week, Selig is the only one of the four left in baseball, which is again without a labor agreement between the owners and the players.
Unlike that spring, camps will open this year despite the lack of a new agreement. Yankees pitchers and catchers will be the first to work out Thursday, and pitchers and catchers from the other 29 teams will follow in the ensuing four days.
If the owners had their way, only 27 other teams would follow the Yankees in opening camp. The Montreal Expos and the Minnesota Twins would no longer exist under the owners' contraction plan. But the Expos, under an unusual ownership arrangement, will begin working out next Sunday, and the Twins, who could have a new, more traditional owner sometime this year, will start the following day.
The threat of contraction will continue to hang over clubs throughout the season because the owners say they are determined to proceed with their plan for 2003. The teams will be in a contest of survival of the fittest.
But after all of the uncertainty this winter, fans will need a scorecard to figure out the roster of the major leagues for this season. Forget all of the player moves that have sent stars hither and yon, check out the location of the owners and front office personnel.
John Henry will be in Boston instead of Florida, Jeffrey Loria will be in Florida instead of Montreal and the Expos will play under the aegis of Major League Baseball.
Jeff Torborg will manage in Florida instead of Montreal, John Hart is the general manager in Texas instead of Cleveland and Dave Dombrowski is the team president in Detroit instead of Florida. Tom Kelly is retired after 15 years of managing the Twins, relinquishing his status as dean of major league managers to Bobby Cox of Atlanta, who enters his 13th season in the same job.
Along with all these high-profile changes come the usual high-profile player shifts: Jason Giambi, Oakland to New York (Yankees); Roberto Alomar, Cleveland to New York (Mets); Mo Vaughn, Anaheim to New York (Mets); Gary Sheffield, Los Angeles to Atlanta; Juan Gonzalez, Cleveland to Texas; Moises Alou, Houston to the Chicago Cubs; Tino Martinez, New York (Yankees) to St. Louis.
Robin Ventura is not leaving New York, but he is moving from Queens to the Bronx. Barry Bonds stayed in San Francisco. On the other hand, Mark McGwire, Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn will not be playing anywhere. They retired and are awaiting their tickets to the Hall of Fame five years from now.
Where will Major League Baseball be five years from now? Probably negotiating another collective bargaining agreement and living on the labor edge once more.
Some people on the players' side believe the owners would have locked out the players as soon as the World Series ended last November — yes, November — if not for Sept. 11. The owners desperately wanted to change the economic system before another signing season went by, but the shellshocked public would never have tolerated a baseball labor war.